just listen to the rhythm of my heart
by breeutiful
Summary: Seven kisses between Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. - AlbusScorpius


_i._

"I've never kissed a girl."

The admission is soft, almost timid as Albus turns his head to look at Scorpius. He's all gorgeous green eyes, high cheekbones and messy black hair and Scorpius feels a blush rise on his cheeks, but he doesn't look away. Al's gaze is holding his steadily.

"It's not that great," is all Scorpius says in reply because, really, it's not. A girl's lips are too soft and sticky with lipgloss. He knows this from a one-time kiss from Rose during a date in third year. A date that lasted about ten minutes and resulted with him walking away with her still shouting expletives at his back.

"Oh."

After a few seconds of an awkward silence, Scorpius finally manages to ask, "So. Do you want to?"

Albus looks puzzled and blinks slowly. "Want to... what?"

"You know..." Scorpius is positive that his face couldn't get any more redder. His head is warning him not to finish his sentence, but his heart is urging him to. He listens to his heart - and he's not entirely sure that's the best choice. "... kiss."

Albus looks confused for a second before recognition dawns on his face. He blinks a couple of times before his lips quirk up at one side in crooked grin. It's not an unkind grin, though. On the contrary, it's really quite adorable. "What. You mean, kiss you?"

"Uh, yeah. Just so you know what it's like. If you don't want to, then that's fine. We can just pretend this never happened, yeah?" Scorpius tells him, finally breaking eye contact to stare up at the roof.

There's another awkward silence and he almost knows Al is contemplating his decision. Either he says yes and they kiss, or he says no and he has to endure several weeks of awkward, stilted conversation and Al avoiding him at every opportunity. He really does hope Al chooses the former. It would be a much nicer option.

"Okay."

He turns his head to find Al looking at him, his uncertainty showing in his eyes. Scorpius realises he'll have to take charge of the situation and he gets on his knees. "Are you... ready?" When he's given the affirmative nod, he braces himself and hovers over Al for a moment before getting up his courage. He leans down to brush his lips against Albus' and... it's different. Kissing a guy is different. It's rougher and less timid, and somehow better.

It's a chaste kiss, barely lasting a few seconds before he pulls away and watches Al's tongue dart out to swipe his bottom lip, as if he's savouring the taste Scorpius just left there.

They lay on the bed for an hour without talking and when they finally do, it's not at all awkward like Scorpius expects it to be. Instead, it's casual in a yeah-I-kissed-my-best-mate-but-whatever kind-of-way and Scorpius' heart hurts because he wants the kiss to mean more than that.

_ii._

"Dare."

That was the one word which made this whole... thing happen and now Scorpius is staring dumbstruck at his Lucy Weasley, as she dares him to make out with her cousin - and, as fate would have it, the cousin in question is Al. He can feel the burn of everyone's stares and he chances a look at Al who's staring determinedly into his lap, refusing to meet his eyes – refusing to meet anybody's eyes.

He tears his gaze away from Al and clears his throat, opting to shoot a dark look at Lucy instead. "Come on, Weasley. Don't you think that's just a bit -"

"- Wrong?" Lucy finishes with a highly amused smirk. "Not at all. Unless... you're afraid that everyone will think you fancy him?"

A list of insults run through his head but he doesn't have the guts to voice a single one because the last time he insulted Lucy Weasley, he ended up having to fish his mattress out of the lake. "Oh, fuck off, Lucy. I don't fancy Al. If I did, I'd be jumping at the chance to snog him, wouldn't I?"

Except that's a lie because he's been wanting to press his lips up against Al's ever since the first time they kissed. But he's not about to tell this to Lucy who's honest-to-Merlin, one of the most conniving Slytherins he's ever met and he comes from a whole family full of them.

Almost as though she can see through his lie, she studies him a moment before just shrugging, that smirk still playing on her lips. "Or," she begins, "you could just be pretending like this doesn't mean anything to you. Come on, Malfoy, if you kiss him than what do you have to lose?" He opens his mouth to answer her but she does it for him. "That's right, nothing. Everybody is going to know it was just a dare and they're not going to think twice about it."

His head hurts from everything Lucy's saying and he's not even sure if she's telling the truth because she's got the whole believable lies thing down to an art. He glances to the door, contemplating just taking a run for it but then Al finally looks up from his lap and their eyes meet.

Scorpius looks at him desperately, searching for an answer about what to do, and he gets the slightest nod of Al's head. They're so in-tune with each other that he takes it as Al giving him permission. Still painfully aware of everybody's eyes on him, waiting for him to make his move, he leans over and braces his hands on either side of Al before he tilts his head to the left and meets Al's lips, the one's he's been dreaming of kissing again for months on ends.

He has to force himself to not read too much into it when Al kisses him back like he means it, fingers wrapping into the blue and bronze tie Scorpius proudly wears around his neck and pulling him closer. After all, to Al, this is probably just a dare. Just a dare. That's the thought that makes him pull back, ignoring the wolf-whistles. He chances a glance at Al's face, looking for a reaction – any at all, and he doesn't get one except for the tie dropping from his fingers. It hurts him more than he cares to admit.

Barely refraining to hold in a sigh, he gets to his feet and says to Lucy who's looking at him like she knows too much, "Have fun with your game."

Scorpius leaves the Room of Requirement without so much as a backwards glance because he doesn't want to see the expression of Al's face – because, dare he admit it, he's the tiniest bit afraid to.

_iii._

Scorpius stays over at the Potter residence during the Christmas holidays of his fifth year and finds Al's little sister in the kitchen, staring aimlessly into a cup of tea.

He's never particularly cared for his best friend's little sister but it seems like a bit of a bastard move to not even acknowledge her presence. After all, he's the only one awake other than her this early in the morning. He'd left Al to his dreams; he knew from experience how dangerous he could be in the morning. "Anything the matter?

Lily swirls the liquid in her cup once, twice, then finally sets it down without taking a single sip. She clasps her hands together on the table in front of her and tells him with a cracked voice, "Yes."

He doesn't press her for details because it's not any of his business and also because he's not really sure that he actually wants to deal with the problems of a thirteen year old girl. But it turns out that it doesn't matter what he wants because she's standing up with a look of complete and total misery on her face, and looking like she's about to cry. Before he can think it all the way through, he feels himself taking a few steps towards her and his arms wrap around her small frame.

It takes less than a minute for her to break down in his arms, crying something about Teddy Lupin and her cousin Victoire over and over again into his chest. Not knowing what to do – Al was always the one to deal with Rose's thirteen year old hysterics, not him – he crushes her against him, squeezing her even more tightly and rubbing circles on her back absentmindedly.

When she finally calms down and pulls away, she looks at him with those brilliant green eyes that remind him so much of Al's and he can sense she's about to thank him. He just shakes his head and pulls her towards him again, muttering something along the lines of, "It's fine. Don't bother."

Al catches them like this a few moments later, having gotten up surprisingly early for once, and he stares at Scorpius with an unreadable expression before he nods towards the living room, gesturing for Scorpius to join him once he's done.

After he makes sure that Lily has calmed down, he pours her a fresh cup of tea and leaves her be with a few words of probably useless advice. "You know, there's no point crying over a bloke who's too much of an idiot not to realise how special you are."

When he joins Al out in the living room, he finds himself being pulled into the stairwell by his wrist and pressed against the wall. He sees Al's bloody gorgeous eyes meet his the second before the other boy presses his lips up against his own. They part a few seconds later in fear of being caught and a need to breathe. Al grins at him.

"Thanks," is all Al says before he slides past him to slip into the kitchen and grab a cup of tea for himself.

Scorpius is left on the stairwell, staring after him in shock and he makes a mental note to help out his best friend's sister more often if this is how he's going to be rewarded.

_iv._

Al stumbles into the dorms with the smell of alcohol on his breath and Scorpius does the best he can to ignore him, simply deciding to turn the page of his book instead.

There's a reason why he doesn't go to parties with Al and this is exactly it. He can't stand Al when he's drunk because he's a bit of a downright wanker when he's been drinking.

"Scorpius, Scorpius, Scorpius!" Albus sing-songs as he falls next to him onto the blonde's bed. "I fucking love you, you know that?"

For one insane second, Scorpius' heart races and it feels oh-so clichédly like he's flying but then he hears the slur in Al's next words ("Best fucking mate ever!") and he plummets right back down to earth. As Al keeps rambling on about some shit that happened at the party that he can't believe Scorpius missed, he maintains a blank expression. He doesn't even pretend to be interested because by this point, Al's way too preoccupied with bragging.

"I totally snogged Zabini tonight, y'know? She let me feel her up and everything. I tell you, mate, she's got the most fantastic pair of –"

"- Great to hear that you had such a wonderful time," he says dryly, effectively cutting him off because he does _not_ want to hear this. He rolls over to his side, ignoring Al's enthusiastic reply that it was the best party ever. "I'm going to sleep. It's late. Night."

And then the next thing he knows, Al's pinning him down on the bed and kneeling over him, baring a cocky smirk on his lips as he coos, "Aw, Scorp. Did you wait up? Just for me? How terribly sweet of you."

"Fuck off," he snaps. Because, seriously, he's _such_ a downright wanker when he's drunk. "Go away. I don't want to deal with you right now, alright?"

"That's too bad," Al says, falling back into that sing-song tone of voice that drives Scorpius nuts and not in a good way. He reaches up, pushing a lock of hair out of Scorpius' eyes before he leans in, too close to his lips. "I wasn't lyin', y'know. I do love you. A whole fucking lot. More than anybody else in this world!"

And maybe it's slightly ridiculous because Al is so obviously, ridicoulously drunk but he softens ever so slightly and leans up to brush a light kiss against Al's lips. A second later, Al passes out on top of him, which makes him, feel loved. He pushes the Al off him and lets him fall asleep in his bed for the night while he goes to sleep in the other boy's.

Albus claims he doesn't remember any of it the next morning.

_v._

They've been fighting all day about meaningless things and Scorpius can tell by they way that Al's looking at him that he has had enough.

Al's never liked fighting, after all. He's always happily played the part of the peace maker between him and Rose when they got at it.

A snide remark from him when they're getting ready for bed about Al's ex-girlfriend is apparently the other boy's breaking point and he pushes Scorpius' against the wall with all his strength. He pins him there by the shoulders with a fire blazing in his eyes. "You know what?"

"What?" Scorpius spits out as though his words are acid, burning his mouth. There's a hint of fear in his eyes but he tries not to show it as he raises his chin, meeting Albus' eyes stubbornly. He aches to press his lips against the green-eyed boy's but he doesn't because he's scared to find out Albus' reaction. Would it be like last time?

They're both breathing heavily and Scorpius can feel every single fucking part of Al pressed up against him as the grip on his shoulders softens. When bare hands slid down to bare arms, he almost forgets how to breathe because the touch is searing hot. Neither of them says a word, and Scorpius knows right then he won't get an answer any time soon.

Al's eyes flicker down to Scorpius' lips and then he's crushing up against his, fingers curling into Scorpius' arms. Their kiss lasts a few minutes before the fact that they need oxygen to breathe becomes apparent. He rests his forehead against Scorpius' as he tries to steady his breathing, which is coming out in a litany of short, hot pants.

"Fuck," Al breathes. "We shouldn't have done that."

A wave of anger crashes through Scorpius - we shouldn't have done that his _arse_ - and he shoves Al off him, watching as his green eyes widen with shock. He feels a dull satisfaction settle in his stomach that he's able to get a reaction like that from Albus.

"What the hell, Malfoy?"

"Oh, fuck you, Potter," he mutters, knowing he is just loud enough to be heard. He slams into Al's shoulder with his own as he pushes past him and slams the door behind him on his way out, leaving a stunned Al in his wake.

_vi._

His thoughts have been plagued with gorgeous green eyes and messy black hair for the past few weeks and even when he's in the library, he finds himself being distracted. Well, that is until Dominique Weasley slams down a ridiculously large book in front of him and invites herself to sit opposite him.

'_She's always been awfully polite, that one_,' Scorpius thinks to himself, barely resisting the urge to snort in amusement. He then lets his thoughts drift to why on earth Dominique Weasley would be in a library. She's never struck him as the studious type. Then again, he doesn't know her too well considering she's in the year above him.

Dominique observes him for a moment before she just simply says, "You and Al are both fucking idiots."

"Thanks," he says, because... okay, what on earth is he meant to say to that? There's a bit of an awkward silence until he breaks it. "Care to elaborate?"

She leans back in her seat, crosses her arms and nods once. It's at that moment he decides she's just as frightening as the other Weasley women - though he'll never admit that out loud. "Yeah, I do, matter of fact. You're both idiots and fucking blind as well. You know why?" She doesn't wait for him to answer and he's beginning to think that's a Weasley trait. "Because you guys are too afraid to admit your feelings for one another."

He decides to play this safe. "What feelings?"

She narrows her eyes at him. Apparently safe isn't the right option. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You and Al are in like." He stares at her blankly. She makes this big elaborate gesture of her hands. "You know... you fancy each other."

He feels his stomach churn and his mind race and his heartbeat quicken. It can't be true. Because if it were, then why would Al have acted like that the last time they kissed? "Fuck off, he does not," he spits at her, shaking his head. "He doesn't even go that way."

"But he does," Dominique tells him, looking at him with something akin to amusement. "And you do too, don't you?"

He splutters eloquently and tries to deny it, "Wh-what the - what the hell are you talking about?" He stops spluttering as soon as Dominique gives him a pointed look that tell him to shut up now before she breaks his nose with that huge book of hers. He drags his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "What does it matter if I do? It's not like I've even got a chance. He's gorgeous and I'm… I'm just Scorpius, his best mate."

"Dear Merlin, you guys are making me kind of want to smack you both." She groans, standing up and leaving that huge book on his desk. She places her hands on her hips and orders him to, "Turn around."

She gives him a mocking salute as she parts to join the Zabini brothers who are a few desks over, watching them, and he doesn't dare to turn around until she's sitting down. He nearly dies when he sees Al standing behind him; he's not completely shocked but knowing that Al's probably heard every word of what he's just said kind of makes him want to sink into the ground. Especially if he doesn't return his feelings.

He gets up and pulls Al behind a stack of bookshelves, making sure they're out of Dominique's line of sight completely, and then asks, "How long were you standing there?"

Al gives him a crooked grin and it's both maddening and sexy as hell, then answers, "Long enough to know that you're clearly delusional if you don't know I fancy you."

He reaches out for Scorpius' hand and lifts it to his lips before brushing a kiss over his knuckles. Almost as though he can sense Scorpius' next question before it's even posed on his lips, he interrupts. "Before you even ask, the reason I even said what I did in the dorms is because… I didn't think you'd ever fancy me back in a million years. I thought if I didn't say it, you'd hate me."

Scorpius's heart begins to race once again and he returns the nervous grin Al's shooting him, shaking his head as he leans in and whispers, "I could never hate you."

_vii._

When he rolls awake the next morning he's reminded of the fact that Al looks sexy as hell in the morning with his hair messy and falling across his eyes.

A few seconds later, Albus blinks open his eyes and he's rewarded sleepy grin. "Hey," Albus says softly, reaching out to brush his fingers down the side of Scorpius' arms, making him shudder. "Got any plans for today? Probably do, right? You're always so bloody organised."

"Actually, I was planning on staying in bed for most of it," he answers.

Albus sits up and lets out dramatic gasp, hand flying up over his heart in feigned shock. "Scorpius Malfoy, staying in bed... for the _whole day_? Merlin, what has the world come to?"

He lets out a laugh, reaching out to tangle his fingers with Al's. "Amazing, isn't it? Now, if only I could find someone to stay in with me... my day would be a lot more fun that way, wouldn't it?" he teases with a wicked grin, playing along. "Know anyone who'd be interested?"

"Hmm, I can think of a few people," Al replies with a wink, swinging one of his legs over Scorpius' waist and straddling him. His fingers skitter up Scorpius' bare chest and, like always, it manages to set his skin on fire. Al leans down, giving him a playful leer. "But only one who would be very, _very_ interested."

"Oh, you can, can you?" Scorpius chuckles, tugging the hem of Albus' shirt over his head. "Care to tell me?"

After a few contemplative seconds, Albus just shakes his head and gives up the act, closing the gap between their lips. The kiss starts off shy at first but as Scorpius takes the lead and deepens it, it becomes more desperate, his fingers reaching out to trace the elastic of Al's boxer shorts, a teaser for what's more to come.

Needless to say, it's a wonderful start to a great relationship.

* * *

A/N: Written for "the seven kisses challenges" at HPFC. Thoughts? Constructive criticism? Favourite kisses? Please tell and don't forget to review! :)


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